Ezra 1:1 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia,…” 

PROPHECY FULFILLED

Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years.  Well, here we are, at the end of those seven decades.  What happens?  Cyrus fulfills the prophecy by returning many of the exiles to Jerusalem.  But not only that, Cyrus helps rebuild and reopen the temple.

When God says something, you can bank on it.  Now it took 70 years.  I imagine many of those who were taken into exile died in Babylon.  Their children and grandchildren had heard the stories of the promised return prophesied by Jeremiah.  It finally happened, just as Jeremiah said it would.

TEACHING MOMENT

What a great promise to teach our children.  We can’t put a clock on God’s promises.  He may take decades to deliver what He has promised.  We may not see His promises fulfilled this side of glory.  But when God says something, we can be assured it will come to pass.

The problem is our children (and us too) are impatient.  We are more impatient than ever.  How many times have you stood at a microwave and tapped your foot waiting on that “slow thing”?  How about getting frustrated with the rotating hour glass on your computer screen.  30 seconds seems like a lifetime, doesn’t it?  God doesn’t work on our timetable.

Will you allow the Lord to work – no matter how long it takes?  Let Him teach you in the silence.  Allow Him to prepare you for the fulfillment of His promises.  Have you ever thought about the fact that just maybe God is prolonging the answered prayer because you just can’t handle it yet?  Yield to Him.  That might just speed up the process.

Father, You are a patient God.  You see all eternity while I count seconds.  Replace my clock with Yours.  Allow me to see time as You do – fulfilled already.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” 

IT’S JUST A LONG SLEEP

When my wife and I got married she could not understand my family.  Whenever we visited my family in South Georgia, if we stayed over a Sunday afternoon, inevitably my family members would take a nap after a big Sunday lunch.  We would be laying down in a bed, stretched out on the couch, or curled up in a chair.  She would sit there wide awake and watch us “sluggards” just lying there.  Lol.  After over 30 years of marriage, guess who enjoys those Sunday afternoon naps.  Yep, her!

I love the fact that Paul describes a believer’s death as just going to sleep.  Our spirits are instantly with the Lord at death, but our physical body is “asleep” waiting to be awakened at the rapture of the church.  Our bodies will be raised up and “refreshed” with our glorified body.  Now that’s better than any cup of coffee.

TEACHING MOMENT

Do your children still take naps?  Waking them from naps can be difficult. Use that to explain to them how we will awakened by the shout of the Archangel.  They won’t be groggy or grumpy when that happens.  They will “jump” right up.  The important part, I believe, for our children to understand is that death for a believer is NOTHING to be feared.  It is just a portal to glory.

In fact, read them the last part of this verse, too.  We do not grieve as the rest, who don’t believe.  Yes, we are sad when a loved one dies, but if they were a believer, then parting is only temporary.  We will see them again.  And when we do, it will seem like just a second has gone by.

Are you fearful of death or dying?  Trust the Lord!  Allow Him to give you peace.  Allow Him to put your spirit at rest.  Do not grieve as the rest!  Let His Word be that balm you need to heal your heart when you lose a loved one.

Father, death is welcomed thing for me.  I will not fear in the face of death, mine or a loved one’s who knows You.  I long to see Your face and know that death will allow that to happen.  In fact, Father, I should say “Happy Death Day” with the same joy I say “Happy Birthday.”  Entering heaven will be such a celebration.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,” 

IMITATORS

I can still remember when my son was little (around 2 or 3).  He would follow me around outside and literally try to do everything I did.  If I was working on the car he would get his little step stool and climb up next to me.  If I was in the garden, he would have his little bucket and help me pick the vegetables.  He would imitate me in just about every way.

The most flattering, however, was watching him imitate my preaching.  Even before he could talk well, he would come home after I had preached at the Children’s Home Chapel and grab his little step stool, get up on it with his little Gideon New Testament, raise it up in his tiny, little hand and say, “Ooo Ah, Ooo, Ah, Ooo Ah!”  I never knew I sounded like that.  Lol

TEACHING MOMENT

We don’t necessarily want our children to imitate everything we do, however.  Am I right?  We mess up sometimes.  But because they are watching, we need to make sure when we do mess up, we make it right quick.  Our ultimate goal is to teach them to imitate, not us, but Christ in us.  Paul said that in this verse.  He said “imitators of us and of the Lord.”  Paul knew that he was not worthy of imitation, but the Lord certainly was.

So, what of the Lord in you do you want your children to imitate?  “Oh Carl, I can’t think of anything.”  Well, that’s a problem.  Your children are going to imitate or model their life on someone.  You need to do all you can to point them to the only prototype worthy of imitation – Jesus Christ.  If they can’t see Him in you, you must correct that.

Do you love others selflessly?  Do you put others before yourself?  Do you give to others without expectation of repayment?  Do you…you fill in the blank.  As long as we have children in our home, we are to be mindful of the lessons we are teaching.  We teach because we want them to learn.  So, teach Christ.  Teach them to model their lives in His image.

Father of all, reshape me into the very image of Christ so others will only see Him in me.  Let the first thing they see in me be Christ.  Let the last thing they see in me be Christ.

2 Chronicles 33:10-13 “10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with thongs (nose hooks), bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. 12 When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

WHAT WILL GOD HAVE TO DO?

I have seen a lot of people with nose piercings.  I have asked several what they did when they need to blow their nose.  I would be afraid I would blow mine out, if I had one.  Well, Manasseh had a nose piercing too.  But his was put in by the king of Assyria, attached to a chain or rope and used to lead him into captivity.  I bet that hurt!

God had to humble Manasseh greatly to get his attention.  He was an evil king who had led Judah into horrible idolatry, worse than even the people who lived in Canaan before Israel arrived.  Finally, God had enough.  Will God have to take you into “captivity” to get your attention?

TEACHING MOMENT

Often children think if they are not caught for doing wrong they have gotten away with it.  Moms and Dads, we need to make sure they understand that all sin will be dealt with.  Unconfessed sin in a believer’s life begins to build that wall between us and God.  Sure, we are still saved, but we lose that fellowship.  Sooner or later, we stop hearing God’s voice and feeling His Spirit.

God will not let His children continue in unconfessed sin.  He will get our attention, one way or another.  We must teach our children to stay “confessed up” with God.  It’s really simple.  And how beautiful it is to have restored fellowship with the Lord.

Father, will You help me today to lay out all my dirty laundry before you?  You already know it’s there.  Its stench is before You.  Cleanse me, Lord, so I can walk confidently once again in Your presence.

2 Chronicles 30:10 “So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.” 

NO RESPECT

In the past when you invited someone to church or tried to share the Gospel with them, they would either politely listen or at least pretend to.  Not any more.  Today people will literally spit in your face and laugh at you.  There seems to be no respect for the things of the Lord.  He is just not revered now. Continue reading →

2 Chronicles 29:16a “So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the court of the house of the Lord.” 

CLEANSING

Hezekiah, king of Judah, issued a command of the Levites to get the house of God back in order after it had been neglected and basically trashed.  The Word does not say what was in the temple, but it must not have been holy.  The verse says, “every unclean thing” was removed. Continue reading →

2 Chronicles 26:16 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.”

IT COMES BEFORE THE FALL

Uzziah was a good king.  He was the longest ruling king of Judah and did many great things for the Lord.  But…pride entered the scene.  The above verse reads, “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God…”  Uzziah began to think he could do anything.

There is much danger in thinking that way.  For Uzziah, the result was leprosy imposed by God to humble him and remove him from power.  He spent the rest of his life virtually in solitude, and his son ran the kingdom.  Don’t you bet he begged God every day for cleansing?  Don’t you bet every morning he would jump up and look to see if the leprosy was gone?  Regrets!

TEACHING MOMENT

We want our children to be proud of their accomplishments, but we must also teach them how to be humble.  A proud person can become annoying very quickly.  A humble person is always giving credit to someone else for their success.  As believers, we know everything we are and do is because of the Lord God.  He deserves all the credit.

The next time your child has a success (ballgame win, an A in school, etc.) help them to point to God.  Remind them that He is the one who gives them their abilities. Remind them that He is the one who allows them the strength to compete in games or the intellect to achieve good grades.  And then help them to voice that to others.

We all like to be recognized for things we do.  That motivates us to continue doing good.  But let the recognition of others roll off your back like water off a duck’s back.  Then let the Lord’s pleasure in you sink deep in your soul.  After all, only His praise really matters.

O Father, I know You are the only one who gives true praise.  Remind me daily, Lord, to give back to You any praise I receive.

2 Chronicles 21:20 “He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.”

I’M GLAD HE’S GONE

Jehoram was not a good king.  He wasn’t even a good man.  The moment he became king at age 32 he killed all his brothers.  His father, Jehoshaphat, had been such a good king, but Jehoram wanted nothing of that.  He wanted everything for himself.

The phrase in this verse “with no one’s regret” is sad.  It means no one was sad to see him die.  They were glad he was gone.  There was nothing pleasant about Jehoram, so there was nothing to miss.  Have you ever been to a funeral like that?  It’s sad.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children should be taught to live their live in such devotion to the Lord that people will truly miss them when they are gone.  That may seem kind of strange to say, but think about it.  We are either going to be missed when we are gone or not.  I would hate to know when I die that no one would even notice.  I know I am not indispensable, but I do want people to know I’m gone.  Lol

So, how do we “leave our mark” on this world?  Simple, we show our children how to impact others.  We share the gospel so that others are His children too.  We love others so they will love others.  We lend a hand to others so they, in turn, will lend a hand to others.  That will leave a mark on this world so that when we are gone people will say, “We are going to miss him.”

How are you “marking” the world?  Jehoram left a mark, but it wasn’t a good one.  What do you want written on your gravestone?  Have you thought about that?  What will your family say at your funeral?  What will the memories of you be about?  Those are the marks you leave.

Father, please let me leave Your mark on this world.  Allow me to share the Word with others so that You can stamp your image on them.  That would be all I need to be remembered for, for being the one to lead them to You.

2 Chronicles 20:15c “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

JUST WATCH

I love this story about Jehoshaphat.  A great army is coming down to destroy Judah.  So, what does Jehoshaphat do?  He turns to God.  He calls all Judah to prayer, and God answers. He gives these words to Jahaziel who prophesied to the group.  Continue reading →

2 Chronicles 18:13 “But Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.’”

GOD’S WORDS

Many of us remember the 1960’s TV show “Dragnet.”  One of the phrases you heard practically every week on the show from Joe Friday while he questioned a witness was “Just the facts, ma’am.”  In other words, I only want to hear what you actually know. Continue reading →